Following a series of antisemitic and tweets from U.S. Senate candidate James DeBrine, leadership from the Wyoming Democratic Party has called on him to withdraw from the race leading up to the Aug. 18 primary.

DeBrine's tweets that forced the party response were largely attacks on some of the other Democratic candidates seeking the nomination. In tweets sent earlier this week, DeBrine labeled Merav Ben-David, a University of Wyoming professor and native of Israel who is running for the federal seat, as "FAKE Jewish," and made insensitive comments to candidate Yana Ludwig about her having Lyme disease.

Party Chair Joe Barbuto, in a statement sent Thursday night, called the comments "unacceptable and completely out of line with the values and principles of the Wyoming Democratic Party."

"As a result, this organization will not be providing any resources or support to James DeBrines' campaign, and I personally call on him to withdraw his candidacy for the nomination," Barbuto said in the statement.

DeBrine, when reached by the Tribune Eagle on Friday, said he doesn't plan to drop out of the race, despite the loss of party support.

DeBrine said "there's no way" he would be anti-Semitic, noting his brother-in-law is Jewish. He did not explicitly apologize for the tweets, though when asked if he wished he hadn't posted them, DeBrine admitted he "probably should have been more gracious."

WDP spokeswoman Nina Hebert said the party's decision to drop its support was made swiftly Thursday night after the tweets were brought to party officials' attention by a voter.